​ANN ARBOR, MI, April 7, 2016 – The Joyce Ivy Foundation recently announced the names of seventy-eight young women selected as 2016 Summer Scholars. From this group of Scholars, Meghna Tummala, a junior at Washtenaw International High School, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, has been selected to receive the 2016 Mary Vandewiele Leadership Award.

Mary Vandewiele, a Metro Detroit entrepreneur and advocate for women and their leadership development, established the Mary Vandewiele Leadership Award, first given in 2013, to support Joyce Ivy Foundation Summer Scholars who demonstrate leadership and exceptional commitment to their high school and home communities. Joyce Ivy Foundation Summer Scholars engage in both academic and leadership development during their summer pre-college experiences.

“I continue to be a proud supporter of the Joyce Ivy Summer Scholars program,” said Mary Vandewiele. “It is important that we nurture future female leaders, and the summer program experience is a unique and valuable one. Meghna Tummala is an extremely impressive student and an active leader in her community. Her commitment to service close to home and in other parts of the world immediately stood out in a pool of very talented applicants.”

Meghna Tummala, an outstanding student with a 4.0 GPA, serves as president of the Washtenaw International High School buildON chapter, a non-profit organization that builds schools in developing nations around the world. Meghna has traveled to Haiti and Malawi with buildOn. She also volunteers at the Cancer Support Community of Greater Ann Arbor and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. Meghna competes in Forensics and her artwork has been honored by the National Marine Sanctuary and Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. Meghna will be participating in the summer program Brown University.

“I am honored to be named recipient of the Mary Vandewiele Leadership Award,” said Meghna Tummala. “I am thankful for the Joyce Ivy Foundation and women leaders, such as Mary Vandewiele, for inspiring girls of my generation to accomplish bigger and better things, as well as providing us with the tools in order to do so. This award truly embodies the values of both local and global service and compassion for others that have been instilled in me through my work at the Cancer Support Community and my school’s buildOn chapter. I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to represent these values at Brown this summer thanks to the help of the Joyce Ivy Foundation."